Forest Legacy Program

The Forest Legacy Program provides federal grant funding to protect environmentally important forestland from conversion to non-forest uses.

In this voluntary program, landowners who wish to protect their land with the program may sell the property in fee simple, or if they wish to retain ownership of the property, sell a conservation restriction. This legally binding agreement prohibits certain uses such as development, but allows the property to be managed for forestry, recreation, and other conservation values.

In Massachusetts, the Forest Legacy Program is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation in cooperation with the US Forest Service. Since joining the program in 1993, Massachusetts FLP has protected more than 16,000 acres of forest land on more than 100 properties.

Current Forest Legacy Areas

Click here if you are interested in keeping your forest as a forest through the Forest Legacy Program.

Assessment of Need

The original Massachusetts Assessment of Need was approved in August 1993. It established the original 5 Forest Legacy Areas. There have been 4 amendments and expansions since the original assessment.

The most recent amendment to our Assessment of Need established a new Forest Legacy Area in Western Massachusetts. Three existing FLAs - Connecticut Valley, Stockbridge Yokun Ridge, and Taconic Range - are now part of the Western Mass FLA.